IPL 7, DD vs RCB, Highlights: Yuvraj Singh's 29-ball 68* Delivers Royal Challengers Bangalore Victory

Royal Challengers Bangalore take on Delhi Daredevils in a battle to survive in the Indian Premier League. Catch all the live updates here. (Scorecard | Commentary | Points Table | Full Schedule):

 

Yuvraj Singh, Man-of-the-Match: I started really well and just kept believing in myself and the seniors, like Muralitharan and Daniel Vettori believed in me. I wanted to come to a place where I can be myself and play my game and thanks to Vijay Mallya for bringing me here.

That's it from this game.

 

Virat Kohli, Royal Challengers Bangalore captain: It feels amazing. We badly wanted that win. There were a few lapses but overall, it was a good performance. It's been very pleasing to see Yuvi bat like that; all those who doubted him should put those doubts to rest. We have to take it one game at a time and the results will follow.

 

Kevin Pietersen, Delhi Daredevils captain: That man (Yuvraj) over there batted like an absolute superstar. We got undone by a brilliant innings. He has proven a lot of people wrong. He faced a lot of criticism before coming into the tournament. It's always good to see the good guys doing well. We have to build for next season, there's an unrealistic chance of making the playoff.

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore win by 16 runs. Delhi Daredevils were off to a poor start, chasing 187 - they lost Murali Vijay and Quinton de Kock in the first two overs and despite cameos from Kevin Pietersen, JP Duminy and Kedar Jadhav, the Daredevils fell short of RCB's mammoth total. Muralitharan and Starc picked two wickets apiece for RCB.

 

00:20 IST: WICKET! There goes the last of DD's hopes as Starc castles Duminy for 48. DD 147/6 off 17.4 overs

 

00:05 IST SIX! Duminy slams Chahal for a SIX as DD reach 119/5 off 15 overs - they need 68 from the last 5.

 

11:58 IST: WICKET! Delhi are in complete shambles. Muralitharan sees off Dinesh Karthik as DD reach 102/5 with seven overs remaining.

 

23:54 IST: WICKET! Kevin Pietersen is gone; falls to Chahal for 33 as DD reach 97/4 off 12 overs. Karthik and Duminy together now.

 

23:43 IST: WICKET! Abu Nechim has struck and removed Mayank Agarwal, who was looking good - Duminy walks in. DD 73/3 off 9.2 overs

 

23:31 IST: Pietersen slams Yuvraj for a SIX in his first over and DD are 54/2 after 7 overs. Strategic timeout

 

23:29 IST: End of the powerplay as DD reach 46/2, thanks to 10 runs off Chahal's first over. Yuvraj Singh comes on to bowl.

 

23:21 IST: Abu Nechim in the attack with DD on 26/2 off 4 overs, chasing 187.

 

23:12 IST: WICKET! Disaster for Delhi as Starc strikes to remove de Kock. DD 10/2 off 2 overs as Kevin Pietersen joins Mayank Agarwal in the middle.

 

23:05 IST: WICKET! Muralitharan gets Murali Vijay in the first over as DD get off to a terrible start in chase of 187. DD 7/1 after the first over.

 

Royal Challengers Bangalore are 186/4 off their 20 after four sixes from Yuvraj in the last over of the innings. It was another Yuvraj Singh (68 not out off 29 balls) show as Bangalore recovered from another poor start. After losing Gayle and Kohli early in the piece, RCB were steered along by Patel and de Villiers, who scored 29 apiece. However, DD struck back, removing them both in quick time, setting the stage for another Yuvraj blitz. The southpaw hit three successive sixes of Tahir and was aggressive right through the end of the innings.

 

22:42 IST: SIX! Yuvraj blasts Kaul into the stands - RCB are 159/4 after 19.

 

22:35 IST: SIX! Yuvraj goes after Shami now - he is in fine, fine form. The southpaw was hurt by that defeat against Rajasthan Royals and he is making another great effort here.

 

22:32 IST: Yuvraj Singh slammed Tahir for three successive sixes and almost revived memories of his Durban knock in 2007. RCB 136/4 off 17 overs

 

22:19 IST: WICKET! Kaul castles de Villiers for 33 as RCB slip to 107/4 off 14.2 overs. Sachin Rana in with Yuvraj Singh.

 

22:11 IST: With seven overs left in the innings, RCB are 95/3. Yuvraj in the middle with AB de Villiers. Strategic timeout.

 

22:09 IST: WICKET! Shami has broken through and ended a promising stand between de Villiers and Patel, deceiving the latter with a slower ball.  RCB 94/3 off 12.3 overs

 

22:06 IST: RCB have regained momentum here - after Patel smashed Tahir for 14, de Villiers sent Kaul on a leather chase, smothering him for a six and two boundaries. RCB 92/2 off 12 overs

 

22:00 IST: Imran Tahir gives away 14 runs in his second over as RCB reach 74/2 off 11 overs.

 

21:53 IST: RCB are 50/2 off 9, after Imran Tahir's first over.

21:49 IST: WICKET! Another one down for Bangalore and it's Virat Kohli this time, who tried to go back for a risky second and was caught short of his ground. RCB are 45/2 off 8.1 overs.

 

21:36 IST: WICKET! Another reckless shot by Chris Gayle, who has been snared by Rahul Shukla for 22 off 23 balls. RCB 33/1 off 5.3 overs as Kohli joins Patel in the middle.

 

21:30 IST: Patel cracks the last ball of the over for FOUR! as RCB reach 33/0 off 5.

 

21:22 IST: Siddharth Kaul replaces Duminy in the attack.

 

21:27 IST: FOUR! That was pitched up by Shami and Patel drives that through covers. RCB 28/0 after four overs.

 

21:22 IST: Gayle blasts Duminy for SIX and FOUR in his second over as RCB reach 22/0 after 3.

 

21:17 IST: SIX! Gayle hammers the last ball of the over for a maximum, using the bottom hand. RCB are after 9/0 2 overs. The Royal Challengers have been generally tough to beat at home and they will look at home support again to bounce back from a heart-wrenching loss against Rajasthan Royals.

 

21:14 IST: Excellent first over from JP Duminy, who gives away just one run to Gayle. RCB are 1/0 after 1.

 

21:10 IST: Parthiv Patel back at the top, in place of Virat Kohli. Chris Gayle the other opener of course. JP Duminy will bowl the first over for Delhi.

 

21:01 IST:  Here are the playing XIs:

 

RCB: V Kohli (Captain), CH Gayle, VH Zol, AB de Villiers, Yuvraj Singh, S Rana, PA Patel (WK), MA Starc, M Muralitharan, YS Chahal, AN Ahmed

DD: Q de Kock, KP Pietersen (Captain), MA Agarwal, KD Karthik (WK), M Vijay, JP Duminy, KM Jadhav, R Shukla, Mohammed Shami, Imran Tahir, S Kaul

 

20:50 IST: DD elect to bowl vs RCB. Three changes for Bangalore, who have added Muralitharan, Sachin Rana and Abu Nechim. Delhi have recalled Murali Vijay.

 

20:43 IST: New toss time. 8.50 PM. The covers are coming off and play will begin at 9.10 PM. No overs will be reduced.

 

20:30 IST: It's drizzling rather heavily in Bangalore at the moment and the players are looking on helplessly from the dressing-rooms. It's a crucial game for both teams and they would be hoping to get something in here.

 

19:58 IST: The toss was supposed to take place at 8 PM but it has started to drizzle again. Frustrating.

 

19:50 IST: Toss at 8 PM IST. The match will start at 8.30 and no overs have been reduced.

 

19:40 IST: Rain threat in Bangalore. Not very bright news; the ground is covered, thanks to light drizzle. A delayed start is certain.

 

PREVIEW

Battered and bruised, Royal Challengers Bangalore face Delhi Daredevils in a must-win Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Tuesday. A defeat could put the play-offs out of RCB's reach while the Daredevils, with seven defeats, are all but out of the reckoning.

Two stunning back-to-back defeats at home, against Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, in the past 72 hours have put huge question marks against the Virat Kohli-led RCB whose repeated collective failures despite a plethora of talent have been baffling.

Tuesday night presents a good opportunity for the RCB, who have just six points from nine matches, to drag themselves out of the mire as they face a deflated Daredevils whose captain Kevin Pietersen faces a similar crisis and predicament as Kohli in terms of pulling his team together to perform. (Read Full Preview)

 

 

YUVRAJ FINDS T20 CRUEL

Yuvraj Singh was left bitterly disappointed after Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to Rajasthan Royals in a thrilling Indian Premier League contest at home on Sunday night. In a stunning chase, James Faulkner and Steven Smith produced 85 runs off 32 balls for the sixth wicket to snatch one of the most memorable wins of this year's league. Rajasthan's five-wicket win left Yuvraj and RCB completely shattered.

Yuvraj has more reasons to feel gutted. He scored a career-best 83 off 38 balls and went on to take four wickets for 35 but could not stop his team from losing a high-scoring contest that for most times seemed to be in RCB's grip. Chasing a daunting 191, the Australian duo of Faulkner and Smith scored the last 65 runs off just 17 balls to help Rajasthan win with seven balls to spare. (Loss vs Rajasthan Hurt: Yuvraj)

 

 

CRISTIANO RONALDO IS VIRAT'S FAVOURITE

In the middle of the Indian Premier League season some cricketers who are self- confessed football fans have taken time out to promote the beautiful game and usher in the FIFA World Cup fever that begins in a month's time. Virat Kohli, the busy Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper, took time out to talk about his love for football, being a die-hard fan of Cristiano Ronaldo and rooting for Germany in the upcoming tournament.

Especially at this event it's great to see so many kids being so passionate about football and it's something that we enjoy playing as well. Football is a sport that is loved globally and it's great to see so many kids having an interest in football apart from cricket as well in India. I really hope this sport grows in India because there are so many people that love football in India. We need to have a good infrastructure and more players coming out of India. I completely love the sport and its personally heartening to see so many kids having a lot of interest in football apart from cricket also. (I Support Germany in FIFA World Cup: Kohli)